Don't Travel Alone
by placethativebeendreamingof
Summary: River was going to make sure the Doctor didn't have to travel alone. The Doctor and River on the TARDIS after the events of "The Angels Take Manhattan." 11/River, mainly hurt/comfort. Spoilers for The Angels Take Manhattan. One shot. Complete.


**A/N: **Just a short deleted scene fic from "The Angels Take Manhattan." This episode was a River/11 shipper's dream, but it bugged me a little that River's comment about only one psychopath in the TARDIS and the Doctor's obvious disappointment when she said made it seem as if she was going to leave the Doctor all alone. And I have a feeling she stuck around long enough to make sure he was okay before she headed off. I was also troubled by the idea that Rory's dad was sitting at Amy and Rory's house watering the plants and waiting for them to come home. So really this fic is just my attempt to address those two things. It's been quite a while since I wrote Doctor Who fanfiction, so I apologize if I'm a little rusty. Enjoy!

* * *

River busied herself with flying the TARDIS, needing a distraction from all that she had just lost.

The Doctor glanced upward, his heart breaking a little as a sad thought occurred to him.

"River, they were your parents. Sorry, I didn't even think..."

"Doesn't matter," River answered tightly, not looking at the Doctor.

"'Course it matters..." the Doctor said, a bit sadly.

River fixed her eyes on the Doctor, needing him to see the urgency in what she was saying. "What matters is this. Doctor, don't travel alone."

The Doctor swallowed hard, so lost in his grief over Amy and Rory that the fact that he would be alone hadn't even occurred to him. He couldn't imagine it, couldn't bear it. He knew what he needed, but was almost too scared to ask.

"Travel with me then..." he managed after a moment.

River looked at him for a long second, somehow still surprised after all she and the Doctor had been through that he thought he had to ask. As if she would ever leave him in this condition.

"Whenever and wherever you want," she finally said with a grin.

The Doctor smiled back, relief evident all over his face.

"But not all the time," River continued, knowing that she couldn't stay forever, given how their timelines intersected. "One psychopath per TARDIS, don't you think?" she asked, trying to coax even a small smile out of the Doctor.

The Doctor's face fell immediately. River was leaving him. Everyone left him: Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy and Rory. He was destined to live his life like this. The raggedy man and his box, always alone, in the end.

River glanced back at the Doctor and saw the panic looming large across his face. She shifted a lever on the TARDIS and walked over to the Doctor, taking his hand in hers.

"Not now, silly. I'm not leaving yet," she soothed.

"You're not?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

"Of course I'm not...you think I'd just leave you in this condition?" River asked.

"I - I wasn't sure," The Doctor murmured, fiddling with the sleeve of his tweed coat. "How long can you stay this time?"

"Until you're better...until you don't cry yourself to sleep every night at minimum," River answered honestly, squeezing the Doctor's hand.

The Doctor looked down, blushing. "You - uh - you heard that?"

"'Course I did, sweetie," River spoke. "It'd be a little hard not to, given the fact that we were in the same bed."

The Doctor blushed even harder, shifting from crimson to violet. The bed sharing was new, but he had to admit that it was nice. He'd been a mess when River dragged him back onto the TARDIS, ready to find Amy and Rory, ready to rip New York apart, consequences be damned. But River had been amazing, just as she always was, talking him down from doing something very, very stupid and leading him upstairs to his bedroom, holding him until he fell asleep. The tears had come later when he woke up in the darkness and forgot just for a second what he'd lost, planning to pop downstairs to see what the Ponds were up to.

"It's okay," River soothed, seeing the Doctor's embarrassment. "That's what wives do. It's why I'm here. Don't ever think you have to hide that from me. I miss them too. We can miss them together."

The Doctor smiled, bending forward to plant a kiss on River's forehead. "I don't know what I'd do without you..."

"Neither do I..." River pulled the Doctor up to a standing position by the hand before heading back to the TARDIS control panel. "Right, so where are we going next? The universe is yours for the taking."

"Leadworth," the Doctor spoke immediately.

"Doctor..." River said, shaking her head. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Have to," the Doctor said with finality. "There's something I've got to do. Amy and Rory may be gone, but Brian's still there, watering the plants and waiting for them to come home. I have to... He needs to know what happened to his son and his daughter-in-law. I owe Amy and Rory that much."

"Are you sure?" River asked, already dreading the task at hand.

"Positive."

River nodded and began to pilot the TARDIS toward the sleepy English village.

The Doctor sighed, deep in thought. He listened to the sounds of the TARDIS taking off, and whispered a single word. _Geronimo._


End file.
